Chapter 27: Contract, Quality Breakthrough

Feeling Lionel's current state, Adrian's lips curved upward slightly.

These past two days, Living Affinity had made it easier for him to sense the emotions of living beings. Sometimes he did not even need to look at a panel to feel the thoughts and states of the beasts in his home.

This talent worked very well when the bond with a beast was high, even without a contract.

He could feel that in just two or three days, this little cat—who hid his emotions and loved to run away—had already developed great trust and reliance on him.

It was easy to imagine that the places he had stayed before might not have offered even basic kindness.

In fact, the reason Adrian had not contracted him these past few days was that he wanted to respect the beast's will.

He was a One-Star Beast Tamer. Using the Contract Art to contract a common-quality beast was not difficult.

But the Contract Art also meant something—it was inviting a beast into one's life, into one's spiritual world.

To Adrian, a beast's potential was important.

But more important was the emotional connection when contracting a beast.

A good beginning also opened more possibilities for a bond.

"Lionel, become my first contracted beast!" Adrian stroked the fur sticking out around Lionel's cheeks and said.

Lionel had just burped again. Before he could even finish letting the air out, he froze at Adrian's "invitation."

Even his chest felt tight.

Contract?

Was it the kind of contract like his older brother had, where many people in the family fought to contract him right after birth?

He had been passed around many times. Every owner had wanted to research something from him.

Even in the family he was born into, it was the same.

If someone came over with a needle to draw a tube of his blood right now, he would not be surprised.

But the word that came out of Adrian's mouth truly stunned him.

He really had thought that this time, coming to a new home, the new owner only wanted to research something from him. He had never expected a contract.

Adrian did not say another word. He only looked at Lionel with firm eyes.

And Lionel, seeing Adrian's sincere gaze, felt the fire in his heart—the one pressed down by thick ice and distance—rise again.

His heart burned. His eyes seemed to blaze with fighting spirit.

"Meow!"

Willing!

That meow even seemed to carry a bit of wildness.

Adrian began to activate the Contract Art, locking onto the contract space in his spiritual world, slowly drawing it out, then letting it fall on Lionel's brow.

There was almost no obstruction.

Adrian could feel Lionel's inner world more deeply. Those struggles, those unwillingness, those sealed pains, those fleeting moments of happiness—all of them turned into a kind of power.

This was his Wild Heart ability, and it was the first time Adrian had seen Lionel use it.

The bond between human and beast also began to solidify.

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The contract was formed!

Adrian felt a certain part of his spiritual world suddenly filled, and his spiritual power rose slightly.

But what Adrian had not expected was that Lionel, taking advantage of that surge of Wild Heart and the nourishment of Adrian's spiritual power after the contract, quickly digested part of the energy from the Lionbright Fruit cake he had just eaten.

His body seemed to start growing. His limbs became slender, and his fur became finer.

Although he was not yet as large as the other Serene Spirit Cats Adrian had seen at the cultivation base, at least he no longer looked like a newborn kitten.

It was not over. Adrian visibly saw a lion-like phantom flash behind Lionel, then vanish.

Such a rapid change was clearly not evolution.

It was a quality breakthrough. He had finally returned to the Exceptional rank that belonged to him!

Although it was not the average Exceptional-Mid, at least it had reached Exceptional-Lower.

Adrian looked at his panel and got confirmation.

[Serene Spirit Cat]

[Attribute]: Spirit

[Quality]: Exceptional-Lower

[Level]: Common 4

[Sex]: Male

[Traits]: Wild Heart LV1, Lion Spirit LV1

[Wild Heart LV1]: In a pure state of mind, after finding the starting point of inner wildness, one can enter a [Frenzy] state. All physical qualities increase by 20%. Duration: ten minutes.

[Lion Spirit LV1]: Activates the lion soul in the bloodline and summons the lion spirit. Any attack can be infused with [Domineering Sense], creating aura suppression against any beast of the feline family.

[Personality]: Enduring, wild, brave

[Status]: The force of Wild Heart, the nourishment of spiritual power during the contract, and the power he had accumulated through long endurance allowed him to quickly consume part of the Lionbright Fruit's energy. His quality broke through successfully. Continued training and digestion of the energy can return him to Exceptional-Upper quality.

He is currently in extreme joy and excitement, and also astonished by his balloon-like physical change.

[Evolution Path]

Evolution Path One: Serene Spirit Shadow Cat, Compatibility: 2%

Evolution Path Two: Serene Fortune Mystic Cat, Compatibility: 11%

Evolution Path Three: Nether Spirit Silk Cat, Compatibility: 35%

Hidden Evolution Path: Spirit Burst Berserk Lion, Compatibility: 98% (Once quality returns to Exceptional-Upper and level reaches Common 10, evolution can occur.)

Seeing this, Adrian smiled.

This was truly an unexpected gain.

He had not expected Lionel to successfully return to the Exceptional quality that should have belonged to him the moment he was contracted.

He had also successfully awakened a second trait, Lion Spirit.

Although his appearance was still that of a Serene Spirit Cat, a different bearing and domineering aura could already be seen.

Ordinary Serene Spirit Cats were elegant. Around Lionel, however, rippled a layer of domineering aura that could not be erased.

"Meow… roar!"

After the successful contract, he and Adrian were connected in heart and even closer.

Before, becoming a lion had only been his dream.

Now, he truly felt that lion's domineering spirit flowing in his blood!

And having suddenly grown so much, he was finally no longer the stunted little kitten disliked by others and rejected by his own kind. In that instant, he felt proud and vindicated.

Adrian's words, "You want to become a lion?" had never been said casually.

His beast tamer was a man who did what he said!

And that cake really did seem to be the first step toward becoming a lion!

He let out another roar, releasing himself fully.

Then he realized that the effect of Wild Heart, which he had once struggled to release, was still active.

He could not waste this precious time.

So he continued swinging his claws, jumping back and forth.

Training!

He could feel that as long as he trained more, he would grow faster.

Adrian felt the closer intimacy between him and Lionel and was also happy.

Contracting his first beast was something he had needed to do during this one-week vacation.

Julian had only contracted his Wonder Shine Grass yesterday morning.

Adrian was not behind at all!

After feeling the wonder of a contracted beast, he also found that his spiritual power had risen quite a bit.

Especially after Lionel's quality breakthrough.

In this world, there was only one way for a beast tamer to increase their rank—raise their spiritual power.

Spiritual power constructed the spiritual world, and the beast space was born within the spiritual world.

He was currently a One-Star Beast Tamer, with only one beast space.

Once he reached Two-Star, he could contract a second beast.

There were usually three ways to increase spiritual power:

One: After a contracted beast improved in strength, it could feed back a large amount of spiritual power. This was the fastest way for a beast tamer to level up.

Two: Use high-quality products that could enhance spiritual power. This method worked fastest when one needed to break through a bottleneck.

Three: The method Adrian had always used before successfully opening his first beast space—[Cultivation Arts].

[Tamer Arts] were various wondrous techniques beast tamers applied to beasts. As the name suggested, [Cultivation Arts] were secret practices for tamers to cultivate themselves.

[Cultivation Arts] were diverse. Spiritual power improvement depended on them.

The advancement of some special secondary professions also depended on [Cultivation Arts].

But those were still too far away for Adrian.

He currently only mastered one free public spiritual training [Cultivation Art] from the Kingdom of Draconis—the [Nightveil Art].

Adrian looked at his own panel.

[Adrian Vale]

Class: One-Star, Tier-Three Beast Tamer

Spiritual Power: 21/100

Subclass: None

Contracted Beasts: [Serene Spirit Cat] (Lionel)

Tamer Arts: Contract Art, Bond Awakening Art

Cultivation Arts: Nightveil Art

Talents: Living Affinity LV1 (A), Eye of All Spirits LV1 (S+)

Spiritual power, from the day of awakening until now.

It had increased by nine points!